More than 1,200 record high temperatures reported

AccuWeather.com reported Friday more than 1,200 record high temperatures have been set over the past week across the U.S., and nearly 6,000 record highs have been recorded since the beginning of 2012.

From March 8-14, 2012, the total number of records is 1,226, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

On Wednesday, alone, 423 records were set.

From the beginning of the year (Jan. 1-March 12, 2012), there has been a total of 5,618 record highs. In comparison, Jan. 1-March 31, 2011, there were only 2,800 record highs recorded.

“The jet stream has been flung all the way north across central and eastern Canada,” AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said, when explaining why warmth has been so widespread this March.

“At least two-thirds of the nation could wind up with above-normal temperatures (this spring),” Paul Pastelok, expert long-range meteorologist and leader of the AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team, said late in February. He forecast that there could be the most widespread warmth this spring since 2004.

The warmth and humidity have been fueling an active start to the severe weather season, including rare tornadoes as far north as southern Michigan.